Chapter 442 Midnight, at the Hemeris Tree
As Daneel heard her words, the blush that had been creeping into his face ever since that incident inside the room finally broke through, making his face go red as he looked away.
Although this woman looked gentle, she let out a roar of laughter which startled even those inside the first two rooms beside her, making them come out and ask what was going on.
"Travis, here…"
Crap! She even knew his name!
Having no interest whatsoever in being laughed at by even more women if he tried to explain, Daneel realized that this was actually good for his plan and made a quick escape.
Of course, as soon as he made his way out, more laughter erupted behind him, and this time, even his ears turned pink.
He could just imagine the next headline on the Network of Angaria.
"Honorable King of Angaria-out in 30 seconds!"
Of course, as he owned the network, he would never let such news circulate, but that didn't stop him from imagining it and berating himself more.
His reaction had been pretty…pathetic, so Daneel resolved to at least not act so weird the next time he was faced with such a situation, even if he did feel very embarrassed.
Repeating to himself again and again that he would only focus on his training for now, he made his way back to the sect and picked up more odd jobs to earn a few Ker Gems while waiting for night to fall.
At sharp midnight, Daneel reached a large tree which was surrounded by many smaller ones, as if it was monopolizing the nutrition that was supposed to go them all.
This was apparently a special tree that was almost extinct on Angaria. It really was capable of snatching nutrients consciously from trees surrounding it.
Of course, there existed many species, like weeds, which did this anyway. However, the peculiarity of this tree was the reason why the word 'consciously' was used when describing it.
The Hemeris tree, which was named after the first scholar to have discovered its properties, only took enough nutrients to ensure that it would grow the most, but it would always limit itself to make sure that the plants and trees around it wouldn't die. They might not grow as well, but unlike weeds, it did not absorb so much as to kill them.
Many said that this was how one on a path to power was supposed to be: they should strive to grow strongest, but they should also not endanger others' lives for that purpose.
There were only 5 such trees in the Sect of Hedon remaining, and Daneel had set the meeting at this one, which was distinguished by it's proximity to a small stream that was one of the many that were present in the expansive forests that were a part of the Sect.
Seeing that there was no one here, he sighed with disappointment.
Alfonso was responsible for forcefully taking advantage of over 110 women, as he delighted in switching around and having favorites.
If Jessica had heeded his communication and alerted the others, a crowd could have formed here by now.
So, it was clear that she hadn't done so.
Still, Daneel asked the system to check if there was anyone monitoring him in the darkness, and to his surprise, he found that there were actually 4 pairs of eyes on him.
4 people were watching him and he hadn't felt anything?! After becoming a Warrior, his senses had grown sharper, so Daneel actually felt a threat now that there seemed to be someone who seemed to be so adept at hiding themselves. Chances were that they all might be stronger than him.
However, a few seconds, Daneel gaped as a kid ran towards him.
He was around 2 feet tall, and he had plump cheeks, although the rest of his body was lean.
Where did this kid come from?
Seeing the kid raise his hand before opening and closing his fingers, Daneel understood it as a gesture for him to bend.
When he did so, he heard a cute, innocent voice utter words which chilled his spine.
"Harm my mother, and I'll definitely kill you."
As Daneel froze and wondered whether he had heard right, he heard Jessica's voice saying, "Jake, why did you go there? I only told you to look and tell us if he came alone! Get back here!"
With these words, 3 other little figures stepped out of bushes and off of branches in a 100-meter radius around him.
These…were the threats that Daneel had thought must be above Warrior level?!
They had been so still that Daneel hadn't even been able to sense them with his Warrior level senses, which made him feel shocked that they seemed like assassins who had trained in the Hidden Kill Sect.
With a sweet smile that made the hairs on Daneel's arm stand up straight, the kid ran to his mother who was walking forward from quite some distance away.
Along with her, a host of women were making their way forward.
They had hidden themselves in the darkness, which was why Daneel hadn't been able to see them.
He hadn't expected them to be this cautious, otherwise, he wouldn't have felt disheartened before when he had seen no one here.
But when he thought about it, it did make sense.
These women were being prosecuted by one person already, so it must be that they didn't want to be blackmailed by another, who might bring a group to force them to do something.
The worst case was that they might even be called here to be killed so that they would be made to shut up, as Daneel had heard dark stories about incidents like those where the perpetrator even managed to escape charges if they had connections in the top brass.
All systems looked ideal on the surface, but incidents like these were common, as there was almost no system that could run perfectly.
Sighing, Daneel raised his arms and said, "I promise I have no ill intentions. I just want to help."
"Good. If anything happens to us, there are people waiting who will report everything to the Sect. Kids, get out of here."
With an obedient nod, the 4 kids left silently in the night, not even making a single sound.
Daneel couldn't help but stare at them, and when Jessica noticed that he was doing so, she said, "These kids are orphans whose parents died due to…you know what, I can't tell you that. Either way, the story goes that they lived for 1 month in the forest, while being chased by those who killed their parents in front of them. During that, they learned to stay silent, and many other things that they refuse to talk about. The culprit was killed, and we adopted these kids. Now, tell us why you want to help us, first. If that isn't genuine, then we have no intention to hear what you have planned."
Daneel felt like asking and finding out more, but he resisted the urge.
"I have a plan to take over a high post in the Central Tower so that I can train faster with more resources. I could have chosen anyone else, but I chose Alfonso, as my plan works best against him. Of course, the fact that he deserves this was also a factor in my decision. I come for a normal family, and I really do think that he is scum for doing everything he did to all of you. If you choose to believe me and follow my plan, you will be rid of him, and no harm will come to you. I promise this."
As Daneel gave his speech, he looked out at all the women who had gathered.
They were all different, with varying heights, skin tones, body structures, and hairstyles, but one thing was common: they were all gorgeous.
Back on Earth, they could easily have walked the runway as models.
After his speech, they all stared at him in silence, before Jessica slowly raised her hand and said.
"I believe him. I want to give it a try."
A woman beside her, who had ebony skin and frizzy hair, asked, "The speech did sound sincere, but what makes you so sure, Jessica?"
Her answer made Daneel's ears burn again.
"Oh, nothing. It was just his face when I almost took off my clothes. He's definitely never been with a woman before, and he could definitely have slept with me before giving this offer. But unlike all those horny boys from the sect, he actually shouted 'NO!'. I choose to believe someone who is that innocent and has that sort of mental fortitude. Besides, his speech sold me! All of you know it's genuine!"
Daneel had spoken with passion, as he really did want to give justice to these poor women.
However, he could never have expected that that 'incident' would be brought up.
On hearing these words, the other women actually stared at Daneel, before breaking out into chuckles that were accompanied by gleaming eyes from some of them.
Wait…why were they looking at him like that?
Without saying anything, woman after woman raised their hands.
After waiting a few seconds and seeing that all of them had done so, Jessica smiled and said, "Ok, we're in. What do you need us to do?"
Great!
Feeling happy that his plan was taking the best route, Daneel said, "Your role is simple. I will be visiting many of you over the next week, but only to stay for a little while and leave. After that, when Alfonso returns to any of you, you must tell him about a certain thing that I boasted about. I came across a large Ker Gem mine outside the sect, and I'm secretly extracting Gems bit by bit."
"But isn't withholding information about locations for Ker Gem mines a crime that can land one in prison?"
"Exactly. Just leave the rest to me. Alfonso will soon be rotting in prison."
As the women started whispering amongst themselves, Daneel smiled slyly.
He was going to use the classic method of scamming people by making them give up what they have, with the allure of giving them something many times greater. In other words, he was going to be Alfonso's "Prince from Nigeria".